Bergevin planned to walk away from Habs in 2022 before firing
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Marc Bergevin revealed to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in The Athletic on Thursday that he planned to walk away from the Montreal Canadiens when his contract expired in 2022.
Bergevin, however, was fired six weeks into the 2021-22 season with the Canadiens off to a 6-15-2 start after reaching the Stanley Cup Final the previous spring.
“I decided that for me, it was best to move forward,” Bergevin explained to LeBrun in his first media interview since the firing. “Time had come. It was good for both of us to move in a different direction. [Canadiens team owner Geoff Molson] was very good, very fair. But I told him, ‘Geoff, I’m going to finish my last year that’s left and then I’m going to move on.’ He was good with that. He understood.”
Bergevin noted that the NHL's COVID seasons had a significant effect on him as the rarely saw his children amid quarantines. He turned down talks with Molson on a contract extension in the summer of 2021, but was caught off guard when he was let go just months later.
“I knew a change was coming [because they had mutually agreed it was his last season], but it’s always a shock, even though you prepare for it,” Bergevin added. “It was done the right way from Geoff’s side.”
Bergevin was in his 10th season with the Canadiens when he was let go. The team went 344-265-81 over his tenure, missing the playoffs just three times in his nine full seasons.
The 59-year-old made multiple big splashes with the Canadiens, including the one-for-one trade of P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. Bergevin took a big swing - and missed - on an offer sheet for Carolina Hurricanes star Sebastian Aho, signing him to an eight-year, $78 million contract, a move he now regrets.
“Aho was the right player to give an offer sheet to, but I wish it would have been a different offer sheet,” Bergevin said. “Would I take that back? Yes. But honestly, at the time, we thought we would get the player based on the signing bonuses, which [Tom] Dundon matched. It ended up being a good contract for them.
“Lesson learned, honestly. Lesson learned. If I ever become a GM again, that’s a lesson I can use moving forward if it happens.”
The Hurricanes got revenge a year later, signing Jesperi Kotkaniemi to a one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet that went unmatched by the Canadiens. Bergevin confirmed to LeBrun he held trade talks with Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell for Kotkaniemi, but was unable to swing a swap for now-33-goal scorer Seth Jarvis, who had been selected 13th overall in the 2020 draft.
Bergevin moved into a role as a senior adviser with the Los Angeles Kings shortly after his time with the Canadiens and has interviewed for general manager openings with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins. He told LeBrun he remains open to taking another opportunity in the future, though the final decision is outside of hands.